UK households have been urged to use the new year as a chance to "reassess" their outgoing payments and cancel services they're not using.

11:15, Sat, Jan 10, 2026 Updated: 11:17, Sat, Jan 10, 2026

old man counting money close up of hands

The average Brit spends hundreds on services they don't use, according to new research (Image: Getty)

Brits risk throwing away £400 a year by failing to unsubscribe to "zombie" memberships, according to new research. The average household spends up to £1,200 a year on subscription services, but around £400 of what they're paying for may go unused, according to a survey by Nationwide. The building society has found that millions of homes across the country have multiple or unused memberships with providers from Netflix to workout apps – all of which are quietly depleting bank accounts.

While rising bills and food costs kept shoppers at home over the Christmas period according to figures from the British Retail Consortium, those worried about making ends meet might be best off checking their outgoing payments. Mark Nalder, service, operations and performance director at Nationwide, said the new year is a good time to "reassess spending and priorities" and cut down on unnecessary purchases.

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A woman is holding a remote control of a smart TV in his hand. In the background you can see the television screen with streaming entertainment apps f

Households could mistakenly be paying for multiple streaming service accounts (Image: Getty)

"Whether it's pooling resources for a cheaper family plan with your housemates or cancelling memberships you've forgotten about, managing your regular outgoings and factoring them into your budget can be crucial in avoiding overspend," he told The Guardian.

Rebecca Bebbington, of discount website NetVoucherCodes, also advised savers to make an audit of their household's subscriptions to various apps and services.

"Start by making a full list of everything you may for regularly - monthly, quarterly or annually," she said. "Note down which services you actually use and mark down the renewal dates."

The vast array of streaming services, for example, make it easy to unknowingly juggle multiple memberships after signing up to watch a particular film or TV series then forgetting to cancel - but the key to getting your fill of content on a budget could be a "leapfrogging" approach.

"Try leapfrogging," Ms Bebbington said. "Instead of juggling multiple streaming subscriptions, stick with one at a time. Plan how you watch, enjoy, cancel and then hop onto the next."

Households can also be caught out by signing up for free trials of services or streaming platforms and not being notified when the contracts have renewed.

Government regulations taking effect later this year will require consumer-facing businesses to be up-front about renewals during the sign-up period, give periodic reminders before payment is taken abd ensure buyers benefit from cooling-off periods, enabling them to withdraw if they change their minds.

The changes will also five the UK's lead consumer regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) tougher powers to enforce consumer law, including fines of up to 10% of turnover and "redress orders", requiring firms to notify all affected customers of compliance failures and offer them a right to cancel with a full refund.